FACULTY Q&A // Meet Professor Mignon Reyneke
We chat with Assoc Prof Reyneke about her research roots in marketing of luxury goods and why she is so keen on cases in the classroom
Associate Professor Mignon Reyneke (B.Com, MBA, PhD) is currently the Deputy Director for Partnerships at the Graduate School of Business where she has been a faculty member since 2019. She teaches Marketing which forms part of the core curriculum for the GSB’s MBA program, as well as two MBA electives – Marketing Strategy and Marketing Metrics. Some of her award-winning cases and research papers include:
2021 second place winner of the African Association of Business Schools (AABS) case competition: “Origin Artisan Coffee: Growth challenges faced by a niche brand in South Africa” (with Petra Pavlovic and Sarah Boyd)
2017/2018 top 5 most downloaded case at Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies: “Building the Brightrock Brand Through Change” (with Michael Goldman and Tendai Mhizha)
2012 winner of Outstanding Paper Award for Literati Network Awards for Excellence: “Luxury Wine Brand Visibility in Social Media: An Exploratory Study” (published in the International Journal of Wine Business Research)
CWC: Tell us more about your field of research and what drew you to it?
MR: I have been working in the area of digital marketing recently, but have found myself being pulled back to my original research roots: Luxury marketing and branding. I’ve long since had a fascination with consumer behaviour around luxury brands as it often defies all the rules of branding and consumption which makes it really interesting.
My very first job was at Harrods in London. Watching consumers make decisions and purchasing every day was fascinating and instilled a genuine curiosity in me in this area.
CWC: What is a hottest topic in marketing research at the moment that you are reading/writing about?
MR: I think one of the hottest topics (not exclusively in marketing but it is likely to play a big role in marketing as well) is the role of AI and the impact of it on consumers and businesses. While this is certainly an important and a developing field, I choose to focus on value in business and marketing. AI may have an impact on the value we create for consumers and how we do that in a different way with new tools.
CWC: What current trends, specific to Africa, in relation to marketing have you noticed?
MR: There are many trends in the African market as it develops, but two trends I’ve noticed is: 1) The increase in digital products and communication as access to digital tools and connectivity increases across the continent. 2) The importance of sustainability. While sustainability has been a global topic for years, I’m seeing more and more of this in local business and conversations which is very encouraging.
CWC: What drew you to teaching cases?
MR: I’ve always loved stories. Stories make learning and the transfer of information and knowledge practical and real. Cases also allow us the opportunity to involve students in their own learning which is where I wholeheartedly agree with Benjamin Franklin who said: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn”.
CWC: Which case had the biggest impact on you as a business student?
MR: This is a difficult question as I still so clearly recall so many of the cases we were taught with – a testimony to the effectiveness of the case method.
One that had a particular impact was an article (if I remember correctly it was from the Financial Times) about the Taliban and their recruitment practices. This was only a couple of years after 9/11 so a very timely topic. The course was Human Resources (People Management) and the lecturer took a brave risk here. He was very clear with the students that this was an experiment, but “let’s see what we can learn from this as a case study”. With a class that consisted of students from 35 different countries, the class discussion was rich and fascinating and the learnings around context and the wide applicability of a business education still sticks with me today.
CWC: What is your most memorable case teaching experience?
MR: I would say the first time I taught a case. I had no training in it at all, but have a file of over 200 cases that I was taught at business school. I thought long and hard about how we were taught cases to identify a pattern in the teaching and tried to follow that example as best I could.
I used the “New Balance: Outrunning the Competition” case and to my delight and surprise, it went well and I’ve been a keen case teacher ever since.
CWC: What is your favourite teaching case at the moment, and why?
MR: I always enjoy teaching “TanTan: Love at First Swipe”. This is not a new case, but students relate well to the dilemma faced by a Chinese dating app. The case is rich in themes of context, human and consumer behaviour, entrepreneurship and business strategy and always makes for fun, but meaningful discussion.
While many cases have no correct answer, TanTan has a clear ‘best option’ but interestingly, in all the years I’ve taught this case students have never arrived at the best option quickly – a sign of a good case, I believe.
CWC: How do you prefer to use teaching cases or stories in the classroom?
MR: I think stories are an integral part of learning. From the early days of mankind, stories were the way in which information, cultural values and knowledge were transferred between generations and I believe it still appeals to many.
When choosing a set of cases to teach on a course, I try to choose cases set in a variety of contexts but also a variety of industries.
I often use stories as examples as well to make the theory more palatable and practical in terms of application. The cases are a way for students to apply the theory they have learnt in order to practice making decisions in a safe and risk free environment, and to learn to put themselves in someone else’s shoes with imperfect information.
Read the cases
Check out these cases by Assoc Prof Reyneke, available from Emerald:
"Candibod: Building an online fitness brand through Instagram communities in the southern hemisphere" by Dr Raeesah Chohan, Associate Professor Mignon Reyneke, Claire Barnardo
"GrowBox: The reality of growth challenges for a social entrepreneur in Cape Town" by Associate Professor Mignon Reyneke, Caitlin Ferreira, Jeandri Robertson, Claire Barnardo
"Inverroche: Maintaining brand equity in craft gin through brand acquisition" by Tal Peer Associate & Professor Mignon Reyneke
“Origin Artisan Coffee: Growth challenges faced by a niche brand in South Africa” Petra Pavlovic, Associate Professor Mignon Reyneke, Sarah Boyd
"Wedgewood Nougat: Challenges in a niche premium brand expansion" by Kyle Dutton & Associate Professor Mignon Reyneke
"Yuppiechef: From clicks to bricks – an omnichannel approach for a South African business" Associate Professor Mignon Reyneke & Claire Barnardo
